...McDonald's already has about 1,100 outlets in China and the company expects to boost that number to 2,000 by the end of 2013. The Golden Arches opened just under 150 outlets in the country last year, and expects to open 150 to 175 outlets in China this year.

However, Yum - which opens one new KFC in mainland China almost every day - has more than 3,500 restaurants in 650 Chinese cities. In the second quarter alone, the company opened 59 restaurants in China, bringing the total for this year to 155 outlets.

Yum's goal: To eventually open at least 20,000 fast food outlets in mainland China.

"Yum!'s is an amazing story about how they conquered China so much earlier than their main rivals," RJ Hottovy, an analyst at Morningstar, told The Independent. "Part of the reason is that they built up their supply chain and their distribution system quickly, and that is giving them a real competitive advantage....MORE